“It reminded me of Israel with the sirens and the bombs,” Israeli resident Fernando Chaim Bisker told The Jerusalem Post from Bogota, Colombia.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 shook Colombia’s coastal Choco province at 7:34 a.m. local time on Monday, killing at least 21 people and trapping an unknown number of people underneath rubble.
According to the geological service, the quake struck at a depth of 79 kilometers, with its epicenter near San Jose del Palmar.
Bisker, his wife Chaya, and their two children were in Cali for Shabbat and to see the inauguration of the new president, before returning to Bogota to continue their vacation on Sunday.
Bisker said they are safe as the building is new and is built to be protected in case of an earthquake.
Nevertheless, the earthquake was frightening.
“I was having my breakfast after Shacharit [morning prayers], and then we noticed it was shaking stronger and stronger. And I always saw it in the movies, not in my life. And we went down to the street, and we needed to hold on to the walls because we could not walk; it was shaking so much.”
Down in the street, he said he could see all the buildings shaking.
“It’s not an easy feeling.”
While standing in the street in his pajamas holding his two children, Bisker said something “beautiful” happened.
Something 'beautiful' happened on the street in Colombia
“I went to the street with kippah; I’m a religious Jew. And the people there in the street started saying, ‘Viva Israel’ and ‘bless us.’ That was very touching to see the people in the street ask me to bless them.”
“Usually people think that there is so much hate, but there is so much love toward the Jewish people.”
Cliff Katz was in a synagogue in Cali when the earthquake struck.
“We started to feel shaking,” he told the Post. “We’ve experienced it before, but usually it’s just a little shake for a few seconds, and that’s it. But then we started to hear banging; things were falling. And then the earthquake alarm went off, which I’ve never experienced before.”
Everybody inside the synagogue proceeded very quickly to get out of the building. Katz said that the earth was “moving up and down and sideways pretty strong.”
He said the synagogue suffered significant structural damage.
“Certain parts of the walls collapsed or opened up or separated. There was ceiling damage, glass broke in. I’m sure nothing that can’t be fixed, but it looked like it was pretty significant.”
However, Katz said that since this morning he has driven around the city and estimated that 90% of the buildings did not sustain any damage. The other 10% suffered damage to the facade, he said.
“It depends on the quality of the structure,” he said.
The Post also reached out to Cali Rabbi Asher Abarbanel, who said he is busy assisting community members “going through a very difficult time” and therefore was unable to speak further.